"In the course of the past week, the ministry has carried out the death sentences handed down against 42 people, one of them a woman, who were all convicted of terrorism offences, in accordance with Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law," Hassan al-Shammari said, Agence France Presse reported.

Executions in Iraq are usually carried out by hanging and have drawn widespread international criticism and condemnation from the European Union, the United Nations and several human rights watchdogs, according to AFP.